Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Board & Batten for Less than $30 {#tutorial}

In the summer of 2011, we did our first board and batten project in our hallway bathroom. You can see the post on that here. While it was a nice project and still looks great, it was a bit pricey {we had used the cadillac of lumber...apparently}. And, it was very labor intensive. We did things completely different this time...and LOVED the result {and our pocketbooks are super happy, too}.

This will be the first of several posts over our younger son's room makeover.{And not all of the projects have even been started yet!}

He's ready to leave that alphabet quilt in the dust.

And it was toy overload.I think we outgrew that little bookshelf about three birthday party hauls ago.

Here's what made this {by far} an incredibly inexpensive project.

We didn't use the 1x4 boards like in our bathroom...I wanted a board & batten that was practically flush to the wall in Jonathan's room. I didn't want to worry about having to restrict where we'd hang artwork or place a headboard. I wanted to be able to hang pieces on top of the board and batten...from the wall above. And technically, most of us DIY board & batten folks aren't creating true board & batten...which is a siding style in which boards cover seams to create the board and batten pattern that we've all fallen in love with.

After chatting with our Home Depot guy, we arrived at:

5 MM 4x8 Underlayment

{Technically....insulation, if you will}.

But, it worked wonderfully for this. It took paint, it cut well and nailed flush to the wall. It did require more sanding...but that was a bridge we were willing to cross.

Since these were 4'x8' sheets, we had Home Depot cut them down into strips for us {we used two sheets total}. This was a HUGE time saver...and it's free, so why not take advantage of this delightful cutting service? Our boards were cut into five foot lengths {that's how tall we wanted them} and then four inches wide. In the three-foot sections that were "leftover", we had Gus {our awesome and patient Home Depot guy} cut them into four-inch strips, too. Then we used the shorter strips for the horizontal pieces. We didn't waste any of it!

These were what the strips looked like once cut. And here's the bar code if you're looking for this product.

There was LOTS of sanding to get these smooth...they were quite rough when we started. This was the trade off in using cheaper materials.

We used a vertical board as a guide to figure out where to place the top horizontal board.We pre-painted the top to make it easier.This is Twilight Chimes {#560F-7} from Behr.

We also pre-painted the top horizontal boards before nailing them in place...to avoid having to cut in later on. This was also a major time saver.

And then we painted the bottom portion in Behr's Frost {swatch #1857}.

The first boards to go up were those pre-painted horizontal boards...around the entire room.We again just used a vertical board and the level to put them in place. Then used a dab of Liquid Nails and finishing nails to get it in place.

Then we started in on the vertical boards. Since we were doing the entire room {all four walls}, we spaced them 18-inches apart {from the farthest side of the previous board}. Again, Liquid Nails...then finishing nails.

We used a nail punch to sink all the nails.This is important for a smooth end result.

Once a nail is sunk, you can fill it with putty, smooth and sand and then paint for a flawless finish.It looks tidier than having random nail heads everywhere.

Since we didn't have Home Depot cut our smaller horizontal slats {they weren't all perfectly the same sizes since we turned corners, etc.}, we did pull in our saw to cut those. I'm proud to say that I did all the cutting by myself on those.

The horizontal ones were just an extra touch to give the project a bit more dimension.

I cut a template board so each horizontal board would be spaced from the top bar the same as the next.

{It's not actually attached here...just wedged so it stuck!}

Once all of the horizontal boards were Liquid Nailed & finish nailed into place {and the nails were sunk}...then the fun really began.

Filling.Ohhhh....filling. Such a necessary evil. I stayed up until 3 a.m. one night to just knock it out. It was pure misery. It's just an absolutely mundane task that has to be done. Don't skip this step just because it's so utterly annoying...it definitely adds a lot to the look of the finished product. In fact, the project would look quite unfinished without the filling step.

I use both spackle {or DryDex} for the nail holes and then paintable caulk {pictured above} for the spaces where the boards meet the walls. I like to use these tubes versus the caulk gun because I feel like this gives me a bit more control {I'm a maniac with a caulk gun, y'all. It's a hot mess.}. I also prefer the paintable caulk with latex instead of just clear silicone. The clear silicone dries clear and often times, I end up recaulking the same spot because it's clear and I can't see it. But the kind with latex dries white...making it easier to see.

I like to pay special attention to the corners when filling...just to get that seamless look.

After it's all caulked and filled, I went over everything with sandpaper one more time...just to get a smooth finish. I used a wet cloth {sometimes I use tack cloth...but I got lazy after the 3 am caulking party for one} to clean up all the sawdust.

Then...paint the board and batten!

Annnnnnnnd.....done.

If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer within the comments area {if you have your email enabled within your blogger commenting, I will email you directly}.

This is a really cost-effective project with big impact.

The $30 did not include the paint on this project...just the components of the actual board and batten {caulk, nails and underlayment}. We had sandpaper and putty already on hand. We actually had the white paint also {and all of our painting tools/drop cloths on hand}...so we only had to purchase one gallon of the navy paint in addition to the board and batten stuff. Even with our navy paint purchase, the grand total was still less than $50.

37 comments:

this is sooo awesome. I love the subtle visual interest it creates. This might be one of those perfect projects for the upstairs landing. Or maybe the bathroom. pinning either way. love it if you shared at my link party ;) http://www.addhousewife.com/2013/01/its-pininspiration-2013.html

I was trying to explain this exact project to my husband the other day (for our living room). I don't know what part of it he wasn't getting, but he finally understood how easy I was trying to make it sound. I wish I could have just showed him your post and it would have saved about 30 minutes of "discussion" time. LOL! I hadn't thought of the caulking part, but it looks like it's necessary. Thanks for sharing this!

You are a rock star! But man alive, that filling and caulking looks like a bear. Good job though the finished result is fabulous. If you get a chance this weekend, I would LOVE for you to link up at Get Schooled Saturday at Too Much Time On My HandsxxxKimhttp://too-much-time.com/2013/01/get-schooled-saturday-56.html

Visiting from Tatertots & Jello :) We also recently installed board & batten in our daughters room. She INSISTED on a second horizontal row (she's almost a teen...sigh) and I like yours SO much better ;)

Dang girl! This is fantabulous! I'm looking around my house right now thinking where can I do this....I am so anxious to see what you end up doing with the room - Reece {my six year old} is a BIG Star Wars fan and I could use some inspiration ;) Pinning! Thanks for sharing Kristi!

I have the same textured walls and have been so hesitant to try this, but you have inspired me! It looks absolutely fabulous! We have a Star Wars room for my oldest and he loves it! Great start, Momma!

It looks so great. We recently did our basement in board and batten and use the prefinished boards. I know what you mean about the picture hanging and it is a lot more expensive. I had not thought about having the store cut the strips. I am surprised they would actually take the time to do that!! The sanding does sound like it could be monumental. I agree, the caulking and nail holes are a real trial to get done. In fact, I still have some calking and touch up to do and it has been a year! ;) Thanks for sharing, it really looks like it will a very sharp bedroom. Blessings, Linda

I want to do this to every wall in my house, you did a fabulous job. My walls have the same texture, please tell me what you used to paint yours? I painted the smallest bathroom in my house & it took an insanely long time. I'm too traumatized to paint other rooms now lol

You have no idea how happy I am to find this tutorial! I will be doing board and batten in a room soon and I too want the boards to be more flush with my existing floorboards. I kid you not...I was just at Home Depot today and saw the very same sheet of underlayment and was wanting to buy it but wanted to see if anyone had used it before! I'm SO, SO, SO thrilled to see that yours turned out amazing...and I'm okay with the sanding because I'm on a tight budget!

Thank you so very much for sharing this. I'll be featuring my finished project soon...hopefully...and will credit your blog with helping me to make my decision!

Thanks for ones marvelous posting! I really enjoyed reading it, you could be a great author.I will make certain to bookmark your blog and definitely will come back very soon. I want to encourage that you continue your great posts, have a nice day!

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